Hobart D. Betts

| December 1, 2011 - 1:11pm

Hobart Dominick Betts, an award-winning architect who lived in Sag Harbor, died on Monday in Stony Brook of complications from a fall. He was 78.
Mr. Betts worked at Ulrich Franzen & Associates in New York City for five years and then opened his own firm, Hobart Betts Architects, in 1966. He ran it for 20 years. He designed a variety of residential, commercial, and institutional buildings. Among the awards he won were the Progressive Architecture Design Award Citation, the American Institute of Architects Award for Excellence in Design, and the Architectural Record Award for Excellence in Design.
Mr. Betts was a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects and taught architectural design at Columbia University. He also served on the advisory council of the Princeton University School of Architecture, from which he graduated in 1961.
Mr. Betts was born to Hobart Dominick Betts Jr. and the former Elizabeth Higgins on May 31, 1933, in Orange, N.J. He grew up in Englewood, N.J., and attended the Buckley School in Manhattan and the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn. He earned an undergraduate degree at Princeton, magna cum laude, in 1957.
An active member of the Sag Harbor community, he helped establish the Donald E. Reutershan Memorial Scholarship at Pierson High School. Mr. Betts belonged to the Sag Harbor Yacht Club, the Shelter Island Yacht Club, and the University Club in Manhattan. He was also interested in art and historic preservation.
His marriage to the late Glynne Robinson Betts ended in divorce. They had three children, who survive: Elizabeth Betts of Manhattan, William Betts of Houston, and Katherine Betts of Manhattan. He is also survived by a sister, Bertha Betts of New Canaan, Conn., and two grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Dec. 10 at 11 a.m. at the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor, with burial following at Oakland Cemetery.
The family has suggested memorial donations to the Donald E. Reutershan Memorial Scholarship, to the attention of Dr. John Gratto, 200 Jermain Avenue, Sag Harbor 11963.